Iowa man who burned LGBTQ
flag sentenced to 16 years
Washington Times,
by
Jessica Chasmar
Original Article
Posted By: Ribicon,
12/19/2019 2:28:11 PM
An Iowa man who was found guilty of lighting a local church’s LGBTQ flag on fire was sentenced to more than 16 years in prison Wednesday. Adolfo Martinez, 30, was found guilty last month of a hate crime, third-degree harassment and reckless use of fire after admitting to police in June that he stole a pride banner hanging outside the Ames United Church of Christ and set it on fire using lighter fluid about two blocks away outside the Dangerous Curves Gentleman’s Club, The Des Moines Register reported.
Story County Attorney Jessica Reynolds said in June that the hate crime charge was added
Reply 1 - Posted by:
Highlander 12/19/2019 2:32:21 PM (No. 266929)
A travesty of justice. This is a political sentence! What the OP said.
102 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
wordsmith82 12/19/2019 2:33:37 PM (No. 266930)
And here I thought flag burning was protected free speech.
103 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
The Remnants 12/19/2019 2:36:50 PM (No. 266933)
OP well said.
What has happened to our justice system?
81 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
MattMusson 12/19/2019 2:43:16 PM (No. 266935)
How long would he have gotten if he had burned an American flag?
65 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
SALady 12/19/2019 2:52:09 PM (No. 266941)
A bunch of black kids beat up a white kid for wearing a MAGA hat, and that was not a hate crime -- just a misdemeanor.
But burn a piece of cloth, and get 16 years hard time.
Yes, it is time for Civil War 2!!!!!!
93 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
Ida Lou Pino 12/19/2019 2:54:08 PM (No. 266943)
How is it possible yo commit a "hate crime" against a piece of cloth?
Are "crimes" against wool more serious than crimes against polyester? This couldn't possibly be more absurd.
63 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
Safari Man 12/19/2019 2:54:10 PM (No. 266944)
Trump should pardon (on Nov 4 2020).
55 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
MindMadeUp 12/19/2019 2:55:12 PM (No. 266945)
Meanwhile Abdul-Majeed Marouf Ahmed Alani, the mechanic who attempted to sabotage an American airliner (for the glory of Alah) faces up to, wait for it... 3 years in jail.
83 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
Toby Ten Bears 12/19/2019 2:58:56 PM (No. 266946)
Trump should pardon him...
39 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
curious1 12/19/2019 2:59:14 PM (No. 266947)
Appeal.
And remove the judge from the bench, unless there is a whole lot more to this story than what's been reported.
61 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
Lucky5 12/19/2019 3:33:31 PM (No. 266960)
Wait, so beating up a 14 year old boy on a school bus, wearing a Trump hat is not a hate crime, but burning a pride flag is?
51 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
Peeps 12/19/2019 3:46:12 PM (No. 266970)
Rescind ALL 'hate' crime laws NOW. The government is NOT the Thought Police!! And I hope Mr. Martinez takes this all the way to the Supreme Court.
45 people like this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
Newtsche 12/19/2019 3:46:51 PM (No. 266971)
If you're out to destroy a society's institutions, if heteronormative families have to be abnormal, examples must be made. Collateral damage for the greater good.
As a side note, how have hate crime "laws" not had a legitimate legal challenge? They're patently absurd and incredibly dangerous, utterly unjustifiable.
29 people like this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
LC Chihuahua 12/19/2019 4:07:54 PM (No. 266986)
Preferential treatment don'tcha know. The gay mafia in action. This guy needs a new lawyer that will get the penalty reduced. Its excessive.
23 people like this.
Burn a LGBTQ flag and get sixteen years, but the Muslim American Airlines jet mechanic in Miami who tried to crash a plane by vandalizing the navigation system gets three years.
Where is the justice?
33 people like this.
Reply 16 - Posted by:
GoodDeal 12/19/2019 4:35:32 PM (No. 266996)
I guess it was burning trash without a permit. It seems kind of harsh to me.
19 people like this.
Reply 17 - Posted by:
Enoch Powell 12/19/2019 4:39:43 PM (No. 266998)
I hope you all know this is old history. Once "hate speech" i.e. Orwellian 'thought crimes' became criminal... this was where we were going. I knew it. Why didn't anybody else? American idiots, 'conservatives,' and leftists deserve the hell hole they have built.
11 people like this.
Reply 18 - Posted by:
David Key 12/19/2019 4:50:45 PM (No. 267004)
If you can burn an American flag with impunity tell me why its a 16 year penalty to burn a rainbow flag. This judge and jury should be the ones doing time.
30 people like this.
Reply 19 - Posted by:
DVC 12/19/2019 4:52:52 PM (No. 267006)
Murder gets you less than this.
This is absolutely unacceptable, unfair, unjust. This should have been at best about at the parking ticket
level, and if it were a Muslim burning a Christian banner, it would have not even been charged, let alone ANY sentence, or anything near this level.
This is absolutely horrible. The judge needs to be removed from the bench.
34 people like this.
Reply 20 - Posted by:
Terry_tr6 12/19/2019 5:02:50 PM (No. 267012)
it's not like there was a member of the LGBTQRSTUVW communith wrapped up in it...
5 people like this.
Reply 21 - Posted by:
lewka 12/19/2019 5:06:05 PM (No. 267015)
He shud have burnt an American Flag. This will be overturned "Cruel & Unusual. This Judge needs to be removed.
12 people like this.
Reply 22 - Posted by:
Submariner 12/19/2019 5:09:46 PM (No. 267017)
The punishment is a clear violation of the 1st & 8th Amendments. In fact, the only grounds for prosecution were trespassing and maybe vandalism/destruction of private property.
15 people like this.
Reply 23 - Posted by:
msjena 12/19/2019 5:17:41 PM (No. 267020)
There is a constitutional right to burn the American flag but if you burn an LGBQT flag, you get 16 years. Yes, he stole it, but it's petty theft that merits a short--or no--jail sentence. When is the SCOTUS going to rule on the constitutionality of "hate crimes?" Isn't "hate" protected expression under the 1st amendment?
13 people like this.
Reply 24 - Posted by:
Bur Oak 12/19/2019 5:23:34 PM (No. 267025)
An American Airlines Muslim mechanic sabotages and airliner with 150 souls on board and gets 3 years. Go figure.
13 people like this.
Reply 25 - Posted by:
bgarrett 12/19/2019 5:23:58 PM (No. 267026)
the sentence for MURDER is less than 16 years!
9 people like this.
Reply 26 - Posted by:
Norway 12/19/2019 5:26:52 PM (No. 267029)
If only he'd burned an American flag, he'd be free as a bird!
9 people like this.
Reply 27 - Posted by:
XCenturion 12/19/2019 6:32:08 PM (No. 267064)
What would the sentence have been if the man burned the American flag at the church, if there even was one?
1 person likes this.
Reply 28 - Posted by:
DVC 12/19/2019 6:36:47 PM (No. 267067)
Of course, we do also get the question: How in heck does Adolpho Martinez get to be "an Iowa man"?
Sounds like a Mexican man to me. The Iowans that I have known over the years did not have hispanic surnames.
4 people like this.
I bet he is wishing he had done some lesser crime, like selling drugs or illegally crossing a border.
11 people like this.
Reply 30 - Posted by:
watashiyo 12/19/2019 7:06:56 PM (No. 267092)
....and the Muslim non-English speaking mechanic who attempted to sabotage the commercial plane w/250 passengers got three years?
5 people like this.
Reply 31 - Posted by:
Lawsy0 12/19/2019 7:19:00 PM (No. 267100)
They buried the lede! What was the LGBTQ flag doing at a Church of Christ? Poking a middle finger in God's eye, probably the case. God made the rainbow for a sign of hope. It isn't funny how the Abomination Congregation has stolen if for a different purpose.
13 people like this.
Reply 32 - Posted by:
Rumblehog 12/19/2019 7:22:02 PM (No. 267102)
Some homo-friendly judge got his robes in a twist.
7 people like this.
Reply 33 - Posted by:
Smart11344 12/19/2019 9:25:39 PM (No. 267167)
I am really totally stunned by this nonsense. It must have been a court in SF or Seattle. I must confess I only read the headline.
2 people like this.
He should have burned the American flag instead. There's no punishment for doing that.
3 people like this.
Reply 35 - Posted by:
Trigger2 12/20/2019 12:18:39 AM (No. 267238)
Something's wrong with Iowa. I suspect it's all those Soviet-style prosecutors that Soros managed to snow ball the voters into voting for. 16 years for this? Even murderers don't get that much. Even in NY under Cuomo, they don't even have to post bail. If you're looking for a state to flee to, don't pick Iowa. Never pick NY either. This state loves felons and criminals of all stripes, illegals, corruption, fleecing the public, and jihadis and even imports more of them because so many residents are fleeing Cuomo's communist paradise.
4 people like this.
Reply 36 - Posted by:
Rinktum 12/20/2019 5:29:16 AM (No. 267285)
Our judicial system is broken. When there is no justice, society will collapse. Can you connect the Sal Alinsky dots? This is all by design to destroy the country. This evil has been percolating for decades and has now boiled over. The system must be changed and President Trump is attempting to do so one judge at a time. The damage is widespread and at every level. It is going to take time, but I am not sure we have enough time left. The devastation done by democrats is of grave concern.
2 people like this.
Reply 37 - Posted by:
franq 12/20/2019 6:09:43 AM (No. 267297)
If this stands then no one is safe.
2 people like this.
Reply 38 - Posted by:
Ebenezer 12/20/2019 12:50:19 PM (No. 267631)
to those of you saying Trump should give him a pardon: he was convicted in a state court, so only the governor of Iowa can pardon him. IMHO, these "hate" crime laws are a violation of the first amendment. I'm a Catholic, but I wouldn't want to imprison a person just because he/she hates Catholics. We're all entitled to our emotions. I also think the sentence violates the eighth amendment prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment.
3 people like this.
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Comments:
Burn the US flag all day long, no problem. Be in an angry mob that tears down old Confederate monuments and you're a hero. Assault random white people on the street, maybe killing them when their head hits the curb, and you might get a memo in your personal file. But don't cross that rainbow line, chump, or you're looking at a serious stretch in prison. I liked the USA better before it was fundamentally transformed. Is there any going back?